Swing-Lift Footbridge

Swing-Lift Footbridge

Special Awards: Innovation Winner 2003

Any true innovation performs the task in the most rational and efficient way and the footbridge at Quenington, by designer-builder Richard La Trobe-Bateman, does just that.

Built almost entirely of homegrown Douglas fir, the bridge spans 11m across the river Coln Its 5.8m halves can be raised and lowered easily by hand using an arrangement of cables and pulleys that the designer thinks is unique.

While the judges saw the bridge’s lack of handrails as a potential pitfall if it were to be attempted in a public place, they were unanimous in applauding the simple, ingenious design, its minimal impact on the landscape and the design and implementation of all joints in the opening mechanism.

The bridge, in the garden of Quenington Old Rectory, has been stained light grey. This contrasts nicely with the crisp stainless steel cables and mechanism, making it, in one judge’s words, a wonderful simple and clear design that is entirely appropriate to its rather idyllic countryside setting